I’m asked all the time what is the best month to sell your home in the Seattle real estate market? Right now my answer is “in the month you need to sell it.” The Seattle and Bellevue real estate markets right now are facing an inventory shortage. We have been and are currently in the first sellers market we have seen since early 2007. “Good” homes that are priced “correctly” are selling quickly and that has been the case now for several months. Homes that are challenged and/or over priced are not selling however. Back in 2005 or 2006 even the challenged and over priced homes would sell eventually, but that is not the case today. I define a challenged home as one on a busy street, homes that need a lot of work or were of poor construction, homes that have very unusual floor plans, or homes that are in poor locations.

The springtime however is usually when the Seattle housing markets really pick up. So from the middle of February up until about mid June is when we see the most sales activity in Seattle and the Eastside and I expect that to be the case again this year. In 2012 the Seattle real estate market really gained momentum starting in early March and that lasted until mid November, when the market slowed again. Usually the three slowest months for Seattle home sales are December, January and first half of February.

The good news for homebuyers however is that prices have just started to increase in 2012. We have seen about a 4% increase in average selling price from 2011 to 2012. Prices leveled out in Seattle in late 2009 and have pretty remained flat until the last half of 2012. On a nationally level, home prices were up (an average of 4.3%) in most major metropolitan areas in October of 2012 from the same time in 2011, caused by raising sales and a decline in inventory. Builder confidence rose as well in December 2012 for the seventh straight month to the highest level in 6 ½ years in a report recently released by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.

If you are planning on selling in the Seattle or Bellevue area this is one of the best times we have seen for home sellers since early 2007. Let’s get in touch to talk about your options.

Article originally appeared on Seattle's Best Real Estate (http://seattlesbestrealestate.com/).